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1185252

	registered interest
	date	16/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to protect sick, elderly or disabled people in receipt of (a) employment support allowance, (b) personal independence payment and (c) universal credit from having to attend mandatory assessments or appointments in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	30000
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that no one should be penalised for doing the right thing. These are rapidly developing circumstances, we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">From 17<sup>th</sup> March, we suspended all face-to-face assessments for health and disability benefits. For existing claimants, we have also automatically extended awards and suspended any new review or reassessment activity, except where claimants notify us of changes to their needs that may result in an increase to their award. </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">We have temporarily suspended the requirement for face-to-face Jobcentre Plus appointments for all claimants in Universal Credit, Job Seekers’ Allowance (JSA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Income Support. This means that claimants are not expected to contact their Jobcentre Plus while this temporary suspension is in place. They will continue to receive benefits as normal and they will not be sanctioned for not taking part in interviews with Jobcentres.</ins></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/03/2020 17:45:25 question first ministerially corrected 15/04/2020 15:02:18 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson previous answer version 13583 answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1183696

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times her Department has used its discretionary waiver in respect of universal credit overpayments as a result of Departmental error in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	Carla Lockhart
	uin	27034
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>Waivers can only be granted by the Secretary of State where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial medical and/or financial hardship, and clear evidence of this can be provided. The discretion to waive benefit overpayments can only be exercised in line with Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on ‘Managing Public Money’.</p><p>Prior to the start of 2019/20, the reason that the overpayment occurred (fraud, claimant error or Departmental error) was not recorded on waiver requests. Therefore, for the years 2017/18 and 2018/19, I have instead provided the total number of successful waivers. It is important to note that these may not all have been for overpayments arising as a result of Departmental errors.</p><p>In 2017/18, there were no waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments. In 2018/19, there were 5 waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments, of these, 4 were granted on medical grounds. In 2019/20 year to date, there were 3 waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments, these were all granted on medical grounds.</p><p><em>*The data in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department.</em></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 27036 question first answered 19/03/2020 15:00:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4857 label Biography information for Carla Lockhart

1183700

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit: Overpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times her Department has used its discretionary waiver on health grounds in relation to universal credit over-payments as a result of Departmental error.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	Carla Lockhart
	uin	27036
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>Waivers can only be granted by the Secretary of State where the recovery of an overpayment is causing substantial medical and/or financial hardship, and clear evidence of this can be provided. The discretion to waive benefit overpayments can only be exercised in line with Her Majesty’s Treasury’s guidance on ‘Managing Public Money’.</p><p>Prior to the start of 2019/20, the reason that the overpayment occurred (fraud, claimant error or Departmental error) was not recorded on waiver requests. Therefore, for the years 2017/18 and 2018/19, I have instead provided the total number of successful waivers. It is important to note that these may not all have been for overpayments arising as a result of Departmental errors.</p><p>In 2017/18, there were no waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments. In 2018/19, there were 5 waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments, of these, 4 were granted on medical grounds. In 2019/20 year to date, there were 3 waivers granted for Universal Credit overpayments, these were all granted on medical grounds.</p><p><em>*The data in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department.</em></p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 27034 question first answered 19/03/2020 15:00:09 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4857 label Biography information for Carla Lockhart

1184429

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Government Departments: Sign Language
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of all Government announcements of public importance being accompanied by a BSL interpreter.
	tabling member constituency	Brent Central
	tabling member printed	Dawn Butler
	uin	27968
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring deaf people can fully participate and play a full role in society. We support initiatives aimed at improving understanding of the needs of deaf people and how the barriers they face can be removed, as well as giving deaf people more say in how they access services.</p><p> </p><p>We are currently in discussions on the best way to ensure that any pertinent announcements are delivered in BSL to ensure that deaf people receive information at the same time as others.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/03/2020 15:13:47 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	1489 label Biography information for Dawn Butler

1184435

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Women against State Pension Inequality
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will meet with the WASPI campaign group once the Court of Appeal proceedings are over.
	tabling member constituency	Shipley
	tabling member printed	Philip Davies
	uin	27980
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>The government won on all grounds in the High Court action of this matter - defending the actions of the Coalition government 2010-2015, the labour government 1997-2010 and the Conservative government 1992-1997; the department does not comment on live litigation.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 19/03/2020 15:31:52 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
	tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1184712

	registered interest
	date	12/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Children: Day Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who claimed support for childcare through universal credit in the last 12 months also applied for (a) advance payment of that benefit or (b) the flexible support fund.
	tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
	tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
	uin	28682
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to helping parents into work and childcare costs should not be a barrier to this.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit pays up to 85% of childcare costs, compared to 70% in legacy benefits and can be claimed up to a month before starting a job. In cases where people need to pay for childcare upfront, prior to starting work, Work Coaches can use the Flexible Support Fund to meet these costs until their first wage is received.</p><p> </p><p>For the 110,000 Universal Credit households with at least one childcare element in payment from December 2018 to November 2019 inclusive, 52,000 (47%) have received an advance payment.</p><p> </p><p>The reasons for advances are not recorded, therefore these could have been utilised for many reasons.</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not hold a breakdown of its Flexible Support Fund expenditure for childcare for the last 12 months.</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><ol><li><p>Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.</p></li><li><p>Figures include all types of advances, including advances paid after the first assessment period.</p></li><li><p>Figures provided to November 2019 are in line with published statistics relating to households on Universal Credit.</p></li></ol></ol> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/03/2020 15:13:28 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince previous answer version 13043 answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

1184858

	registered interest
	date	13/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) advice and (b) guidance her Department is providing to claimants of social security benefits on the administration of those (i) claims and (ii) benefits during the covid-19 outbreak; and what such (A) advice and (B) guidance her Department is providing to those claimants at high-risk of developing a severe illness as a result of a covid-19 infection.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	29197
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>On 12 March 2020 regulations (The Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020) were laid to give effect to the measures outlined in the Budget, designed to help delay the spread of COVID-19 and ensure people are not penalised for doing the right thing. This will represent a boost of almost £500 million to the welfare system and ensure work search and work availability requirements within Universal Credit (UC) are switched off. Affected self-employed claimants will also not have a Minimum Income Floor (as assumed level of income) applied for a period of time within UC.</p><p> </p><p>To avoid increasing the burden on health care professionals and the risk of further infection, we are removing the requirement for fit notes in relation to both Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and UC claims relating to COVID-19 only. In line with current NHS guidance; anyone required to self-isolate or having COVID-19 will be treated as having Limited Capability for Work in ESA and UC without the requirement for medical evidence or undergoing a Work Capability Assessment.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, to better support the needs of people (particularly the self-employed and those not eligible for SSP) and/or not entitled to UC, we are removing the seven waiting days that currently apply to ESA. This means that everyone who makes a new claim for ESA; is entitled to the benefit and is infected with Covid-19 or required to self-isolate will be paid from day one of their claim.</p><p> </p><p>Government officials continue to work closely together to understand the potential impacts of COVID-19 on employment and benefits. The Department has introduced new guidance about claiming benefits which can be found at: <a href="https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/" target="_blank">https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/</a></p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 19/03/2020 13:40:27 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1185199

	registered interest
	date	16/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Department for Work and Pensions: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2020 to Questions 27006, 27012, and 27014, on Department for Work and Pensions: Disability, whether the review her Department is undertaking will assess (a) the reasons why her Department has lost more employment tribunals for disability discrimination than any other employer since 2016, (b) the potential effect of those losses on the reputation of her Department and (c) the potential effect of trends in the level of cases lost by her Department at employment tribunals for disability discrimination on objective 2 of her Department's single departmental plan.
	tabling member constituency	Slough
	tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
	uin	29978
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>It is possible that these are elements a review would cover, however we would not want to be restrictive and the full scope would need to be agreed as part of the Terms of Reference for a review.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 19/03/2020 14:10:54 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
	tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1185250

	registered interest
	date	16/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Private Rented Housing: Social Security Benefits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to tackle housing advertisements which specify No DSS tenants.
	tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
	tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
	uin	29998
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>Everyone should have the same opportunity when looking for a home, regardless of whether they are in receipt of benefits. Blanket bans that do not take account of the individual and their circumstances are unhelpful and should be discouraged.</p><p>Last year, I met industry representatives including property advertising platforms, to determine what action can be taken to end this practice. We have since seen positive changes with platforms committing to removing adverts with ‘No DSS’ wording.</p><p>Officials also met the Competition and Marketing Authority to discuss their guidance for lettings professionals which, in October 2019 was updated to state that landlords should not exclude people on the grounds that they are receiving benefits.</p><p>We will monitor this situation and continue to engage with stakeholders where necessary.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 19/03/2020 14:35:42 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1185255

	registered interest
	date	16/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to mitigate the risk of delays in processing new applications for (a) personal independence payment and (b) employment support allowance due to (i) self-isolation or (ii) reduced face to face assessments following the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	30002
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2020 answer text <p>As announced on Monday 16 March we are stopping all face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits and introducing alternative measures to assess from Tuesday 17 March. We are working at pace with our Assessment Providers to minimize any inconvenience and delays as much as possible.</p><p> </p><p>No estimate has yet been made on the average waiting times for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit (UC) while these alternative arrangements are in place. Claims to ESA and UC will be payable prior to a Work Capability Assessment having been carried out and payments for Personal Independence Payment will be backdated from the date of decision in line with normal rules following an assessment.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson grouped question UIN 30056 30058 question first answered 19/03/2020 13:25:08 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens